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We have so many things planned for September with Educators in VR, you might need a road map to keep up with us. To get you started, here is a quick summary for you to add to your calendar. We’ve some amazing diverse speakers and presenters to help you consider a wide range of options for integrating virtual reality and augmented reality into your teaching.
Monthly Meetup
Educators in VR meets monthly in AltspaceVR with a special guest speaker and topic. The one-hour meetup is usually the third Thursday of the month.
September 19, 2019 – Matt Cook of the Virtual World Society: Matt Cook is working with a volunteer group to teach students at Robert Eagle Staff Middle School to develop their own STEM-based eductional VR experiences in Seattle. A graduate in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington and Project Engineer at RATLab LLC, he is developing virtual reality curriculum and VR content for research projects to push the envelope on VR in education. He is a senior advisor for the Virtual World Society.
October 24, 2019 – Mina Johnson-Glenberg of Embodied Games : Mina Johnson-Glenberg is a cognitive psychologist, game designer, STEM specialist, and research professor at Arizona State University and president of the award-winning learning technology company, Embodied Games, LLC. The Embodied Games lab has been at the forefront of creating “embodied” and kinetically-active games using sensors and motion capture technologies. Dr. Johnson-Glenberg will be speaking about accessing educational quality of VR modules with a newly developed Rubric Alpha Version. She presents nationally and internationally and has published in peer-reviewed journals on VR and STEM education. Her most recent work was on Frontiers in Robotics and AI. You will not want to miss this meetup.
Weekly Workshops
We offer free weekly workshops in AltspaceVR and other virtual social and educational platforms to encourage educators to expand their knowledge and skills in virtual, augmented, and extended reality. These workshops are free and open to the public. See our information on how to attend Educators in VR events.
September 10, 2019 – Immersive Classroom: Climate Change: Lorelle VanFossen will be presenting another immersive classroom experience in AltspaceVR on climate change associated with oceans and glacial melt. These are open discussion events exploring how to build and teach within immersive environments and discuss the various educational topics such world building spaces offer. The event is free and RSVP is recommended.
September 17, 2019 – Educators in VR 101: Daniel Dyboski-Bryant will be presenting the basics of virtual reality for educators and learners in AltspaceVR. We offer this free program for those considering integrating virtual reality in the classroom and those new to the experience, or a refresher course on the basics. We recommend RSVP soon and arrival two minutes before start time as the event often fills quickly.
September 24, 2019 – Immersive Classroom: EvolVR: Jeremy Nickels of EvolvVR (Facebook) is a long-time educator and leader in immersive education leading meditation and yoga programs weekly in AltspaceVR for over 2 years. He’s worked with world builders to develop custom worlds and event spaces, pushing the limits of virtual and guided instruction in VR. He will be sharing his expertise on developing innovative virtual programs that connect mind, spirit, and body in an immersive experience.
October US National Cyberbullying Month: National Bullying Prevention Month is October and we’re working on a diverse set of workshops and special events tackling the issues of cyberbullying, cyberstalking, and other online harassment specifically for those in VR and even AR and XR. If you would like to participate as a speaker or volunteer, please use our Speakers Application Form and ensure cyberbullying is in the topic description.
We are hosting a variety of workshops in AltspaceVR and other social and educational platforms. If you would like to be considered to present a workshop, please use our Speakers Application Form.
vLanguage Learning
Educators in VR will be announcing a new committee team project based upon language education in virtual and augmented reality soon, and our first vLanguage Learning meetup is September 26, 2019, in AltspaceVR. We’ll have more details soon, but expect this new series of meetups to flip the world of language studies on end.
Fireside Chat with Steve Bambury in EngageVR
We are very excited to have Steve Bambury of Digital Inception Consulting and Virtualiteachjoining us on Saturday 28th September for a fireside chat in EngageVR to discuss current developments in VR in Education. Steve and his #CPDinVR events, where he has interviewed some legends of the industry (such as Tom Furness, Alvin Wang Graylin, Paola Paulino and Charlie Fink), were one of the inspirations for taking Educators in VR on the road to Engage, so it will be a special treat to turn the tables on him and have him be the guest for a change. Stay tuned for the full event details.
Coming Soon
Educators in VR International Summit: Educators in VR will be celebrating our one year anniversary in November with a week long international summit November 18-23, 2019. We will be hosting events in AltspaceVR, Engage, and other social and educational platforms in this unique multi-platform educational experience. We have multiple tracks covering a wide range of educational topics in the immersive and spatial technology field and industry. Stay tuned for news and updates.
If you would be interested in presenting a 20 minute to one hour workshop or session on education and virtual, augmented, or extended reality, stay tuned. We will have a summit speaker application as well as a volunteer, sponsor, and partnership application soon.
Educators in VR Social Networking Events: We will be hosting special social networking events in AltspaceVR and other social and educational platforms for you to connect with fellow educators and learners pushing the boundaries of virtual learning technology. Networking events are where the real action takes place, where minds meet and magic happens. It was social events in AltspaceVR that brought Educators in VR into reality. You never know where these connections will lead.
These events will be private, exclusive to our Educators in VR Discord server and Facebook groups. If you would like to attend, join either or both groups and keep an eye out for the upcoming announcements.
The Future of Educators in VR
As we draw closer to the end of our first year of Educators in VR, we are working on our future road map, and we have some exciting things in the works. And you are a very important part of helping us make Educators in VR a success.
Committee team projects like the vLanguage Learning, curriculum development, workshops, exploring AR, MR, and XR, are designed to support educators, learners, and researchers as we move into the future with virtual technologies. If you would like to join a team or build your own, please let us know in Discord, Facebook, or contact us and we will help you get started.